Reid whines about obstructionism again and threatens to do cartwheels to bring attention to the problem (maybe the Republicans should have done that when the Democrats refused to vote on Bush's judicial nominees):
As if there was any doubt that Congress was on the verge of devolving into a carnival atmosphere, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, on Thursday proposed doing cartwheels down the center aisle of the Senate chamber to draw attention to Republican efforts to block legislation.
Here, in the Cirque du Senate, there is trash-talking, whining and finger-pointing, bickering and, occasionally, brief flashes of serious disagreement on policy.
But with the clock ticking swiftly toward the end of the year and a stack of stalled legislation piling up, little is getting done in the Senate these days. And tempers are starting to boil over.
Mr. Reid, who turned 68 on Sunday and power-walks four miles a day, ultimately did not perform any gymnastics. But his fury over the inability to move the Democrats’ legislative agenda seemed to have deepened since Tuesday, when he accused President Bush of “pulling the strings on the 49 puppets he has here in the Senate.”
That reference to the Republicans, in a speech on the Senate floor, prompted Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, to accuse Mr. Reid of violating a rule prohibiting senators from imputing “any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a senator.”
[...]
There is no deal on the federal budget, which is needed to prevent a shutdown of the government. The House and Senate remain divided over how to fix the alternative minimum tax, which will drill a hole in the wallets of 23 million Americans next year. In a bit of good news, the Senate agreed to resume work on the farm bill, which had been stalled for a month.
I really wish he had done it because it would have made a great campaign ad with this caption, "Reid would rather do cartwheels then pass much needed funds for the troops."
Reid has to learn one very important lesson, he's doesn't have enough votes to do anything except compromise. I suspect he won't be doing that anytime soon and since he won't he'll look incompetent and nothing will get done. Good! An inactive Congress is the best kind :-)
